Conveyer.



V. W` SIN'TON.

coNvEYER.

APPLICATION FILED .IUNE I0, 19H5- Patented Jun. 2,

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coNvEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE l0. I9I6.

P atnted Jan. 2,1917.-

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V. W. SINTON.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION man JUNE lo. 1916.

Patented Jan. 2,1917.

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V. W. SINTON. coNvEYER. APPLICATIO FILED IUNE I0, l9l5.

Patented Jan. 2, i917',

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V. W. SINTON.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATLON FILED JUNE lo, isle.

1,210,994. Patented 1311.2;1917.

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VICTOR WALTER SINTON, 0F BELFAST, IRELAND.

CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 2, 1917.

Application led June 10, 1916.v Serial No. 102,976.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Vieron WALTER SIN- TON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of Belfast, Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to attachment and releasing devices for carriers, particularly adapted for use with portable conveyers wherein a wire, cable or the like is wound by means of drums from one station to another, and carries the goods in a suitable receptacle attached by a clip to the wire. The construction and arrangement of the conveyer itself including the winding drums, the wire and so forth, form the subject of a separate patent application.

According to this invention the carriers for the goods to be conveyed are provided with clips or grips for engaging ywiththe wire, and a releasing device is provided for detaching the clips of the carriers automatically at the place where they are to be received.yl

The invention is illustrated in the accomp anving drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows a carrier and clip in side elevation. Fig. 2 shows the same in plan. Fig. 3 shows the rear end ofthe carrier drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 4 shows a supporting device at the rear end thereof to the same scale, as seen from above. Fig. 5 shows the clip to an enlarged scale in plan view. Fig. 6 shows the same in side elevation, and Fig. 7 shows the same in end elevation. Fig. 8 shows the automatic detacher for the clip in plan view. `Fig. 9 shows the same in side elevation. and Fig. 10 shows the same in end elevation.

The carriers 1 may be made with rounded or pointed front ends as shown, and connected by links 2 to clips 3 whereby they are secured to the conveyer wire 4. The carriers may hang or be dragged alongthe groundwhen supported by the front attachments 2 and 3 only, but it is preferred to provide also a simple form of support for the rear end of the carriers which will holdup such ends upon the wire,but will release the same automatically when the clips 3 are detached by the automatic device hereinafter described. For this purpose each carrier 1 has a clip 5 attached to the top thereof at its rear end.' and formed with. a diagonal slot l at 6 through whichthe wire 4 can pass when the carrier is set at an angle to the wire, but wherein the wire must hold so long as the aXis of the carrier is in the same vertical plane as the wire. A projection 7 with an inclined face at the back of the clip 5 helps tohold thewire securely under running conditions as seen in the end view, Fig. 3. When the forward clip 3 is released however, and the carrier falls at its front end, the rear end can set itself diagonally across the wire so that the wire at once escapes from the slot at 6, and the carrier is thus completely released.

The rear end of the carrier can be closed in any convenient manner, for instance by a cap fitting by a bayonet joint, or as shown by means of a plate 8 pressed inward against a seating 9 by a screw 11 passing through a cross bar l0 which engages behind lugs 12, but can be turned to release itself therefrom when the screw 11 is slackened. v

A suitable form of clip 3 for engaging with the wire 4 is shown in detail in Figs. 5 to 7. It has a pair of hardened steel gripping-jaws 13 pivoted on pins at 14 so that the arms of the jaws project toward the center line of the clip at an angle beyond the pivots, and behind a wedge-shaped headpiece 15. A spring 16 presses a collar 17 and a plate 18 with bent lugs thereon forwardly against projections 19 on the jaws, tending to .grip the jaws together, but the grip can be released by turning an arm 20 which projects at one side of the clip device and has a stem 21 wider in section in one direction than in the other, so that the turning of the stem will press back the plate 18 and release the spring tension upon the jaws 13. Any Vother convenient release-mechanism might be provided.

For attaching a carrier 1 to the wire, the jaws 13 of its clip are released by turning :the arm 20 on the clip Yat right angles to the line thereof, or the jaws may be held Aopen by the linger and thumb pressing inward the tail pieces 22. The arm 20 and stem 21 may be omitted if it is not required lto be possible to lock the jaws in the opened position. Assuming the parts 20 and 21 to be provided, and the jaws to be opened thereby, the clip is then laid along the wire 4 from beneath, with the wire passing between the gripping jaws 13, and through YLl() the groove at 23 in the head 15; the arm 2O is now' turned until the spring' 16 acting upon the somewhat oval Stem 21 of the lever 20 will complete the motion, bringing the gripping jaws 13 together on the wire and turning the lever arm 20 until it lies along the side of the clip, as in Figs. 5 and 6. The jaws 13'come together in adirection such that the pull of the wire Al tends to cause them to grip more tightly with a toggle action, so that there will be no risk of a clip releasing itself during use.

The lever arm 20 might also be used for releasingthe grip at the receiving Yend, but it is preferred to provide an automatic mechanism for this purpose, such 1nechanism operating upon the projecting tail Vends 22 of the arms of the gripping. jaws.

Then the wedge-shaped head 15 of the clip is caused to spread apart a pair of spring arms at the receiving station, thc said arms being allowed to come together after passing the head, so as to permit strikers thereon to engage the tail ends V22 of the jaws, causing the jaws to openand allowing the clips to drop off. In Figs. 6 and 7, the clip is shown as having a short link A1-0 hanging down therefrom to connect with the carrier by another link, instead of the longer curved link 2 being used as in Figs. 1 and 2.

The releasing device shown in Figs. 8,

V9 and 10V has a pair of arms 26 pivoted at one Vend on a support 24: and drawn toward one another at their other ends by a ten-- sion spring Y25 acting between upright arms 27 attached to the arms 26. The arms areV cranked inwardly kat the end beneath the spring 25 to Yform rounded jaws 28 over lwhich the conveyer wire passes. The normal line of the wire in passing through the device is indicated by dotted lines 29 in Fig.. 9. The device is in fact normally held in place on the frame to which it is attached in such a way that the inclined line 29Vof the wire in passing between the'two ends of the device, is approximately horizontal. The'device may be supported-for example by a cross piece at the endl 24, :inl

by another cross piece clamped beneath Y. screws 30 at the other end of the top plate 31. This top plate has a groove in its under-surface as indicated bythe dotted lines 32, so as to permit the wire to pass within it evenwhen raised by a clip coming int the detaching position. Y i Y A vertical pin 33 on Vthe top plate 31 carries toggle levers 34 connected by links 35 to pins 36 onthe arms 26, so that the opening and 'closing movements of the two arms will be equal and opposite.V The arms 26 YYalso carry tapered steel plates37 adapted to be engaged by the wedge-shapedhead 1.5 of` each clip as it enters the-detaching device. l

In operation, when the nose 15 of springV clip V'reaches the detaching device, it rides up over the rounded jaws 2S which are 1n Contact, passing into the gaprbehind the ing tail-piece 4,0 (or the link 2) of the'elip to pass between thejaws. The clip holds the wire up so that it cannot drop between the jaws while they are opened out.V The clip is indicatedVV by chain dotted lines in Fig. 8 Vinthe position just before it'becomes detached from the wire. The tail-piece or link l0 has passed clear beyond the jaws 28, and after a'slight further forward move- 1 rent the side faces of the nose of the clip will have passed the ends of the plates 37, l i

allowing these to snap together against the tail-pieces 22 of the spring jaws 13, thus releasing the spring jaws Y The clip then falls away from'the'wire, there being nothing beneath the detacher to impede its movement, and thejaws 28 fr i come together beneathrthe Wire Vbefore it can fall through between the. same.V The detacher is therefore ready to operate on and release the next clip which comes along. The detacher as illustrated might be. con'- siderably modified without departing from the scope of the invention, and itsv construetion is shown by way of example only. Y

yDetaching or releasing devices for the clips can be Vplaced in Vany desired position in connection with the conveyer. Generally onel atV the receiving station 'to detachv the full 'carriers and one at the return end of `the transmitting station to detach thereturned empty carrierswill be all that are required. l Y

The carriers 1 need not necessarily have from the wire.Y

the shape shown in Figs. 1 and 2,. The car-V 'Y riers are preferably made Yrounded in Seci tion and of light steel which will-be stron Venough to cause the carriers to glancefo any hard obstructions, and to deliect bullets 'Y Y and the like which do notimpinge too directly against the surface. l

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure ,byLetters Patent, is

Y 1. An attachment device for a wire conveyer, comprising a block with a tapered nose adapted' to ycoperate witha releasing mechanism, a pair of jaws behind. said ta-V pered nose, said jaws beingpivoted on the block and having tail pieces projecting later- Y ally therefrom for coperationl with the re.

leasing mechanism, a spring and vazmember pressed forward thereby normallyA holding said jaws close togetherto grip the conveyer f wire, a handle and a transverse bar in connection therewlth adapted when the handle is moved into one position tovv press backthe member aforesaid'against the action of the spring, and to release the said jaws, and means for connecting to the clip the article to be carried thereby.

2. A wire-engaging and releasing mechanism for a conveyer, comprising a clip with a tapered nose, a pair of wire-engaging jaws pivotally supported on said clip and having tail pieces which normally project laterally from said clip behind the nose, a spring device normally pressing together the engaging faces of said jaws, means for attaching to said jaws the article to be carried by the clip, a pair of stationary releasing jaws with means for supporting them at the position where the clip is required to be detached from the conveyer wire, a spring device normally drawing together the releasing jaws in such manner that they form a surface over which the conveyer wire will pass, cheeks on said releasing jaws adapted to be pressed apart by the tapered nose of the clip, and to approach one another again behind the tapered nose under the action of the spring device to press back the jaws of the clip whereby the same is released from the conveyer wire.

3. The combination with a conveyer having a traveling wire, of a clip for securing articles to said wire, said clip having a tapered nose, a wire engaging mechanism and a tail piece adapted to serve as an' attachment for the articles to be carried by the clip, and a releasing device comprising a pair of `releasing jaws with means for drawing them together and means for supporting them at the place where the clips are to be released from the conveyer wire, said releasing jaws having rounded faces over which the conveyer wire and also the nose of a clip will ride, cheeks on said releasing jaws adapted to be pressed apart by the nose of a clip, and to hold said releasing jaws separated to such an extent that the tail piece of a clip can pass between the releasing jaws, said cheeks being adapted after the nose of a clip has passed the same, to operate upon the wire-engaging mechanism of the clip and to release the same from the wire.

4. In a conveyer the combination with the conveyer wire of a clip with means thereon for engaging with the wire and a tail piece extending rearwardly therefrom, a carrier in the form of a casing attached to said tail piece, a projection on the carrier near to the rear end thereof formed with a diagonal slot and an undercut space beneath the same, whereby the rear end of said carrier will hang upon the wire when the carrier has been turned at an angle to the wire in order to pass the same through the diagonal slot before the clip is secured to the wire in order to hold the carrier along the same, and means for releasing the clip from 4the wire at its destination, whereby when the clip is allowed to fall, releasing the forward end of the carrier, the carrier is allowed to turn suiiiciently to permit the wire to pass out of the diagonal slot in said projection thereby automatically releasing the carrier completely from the wire.

5. In a conveyer the combination with the conveyer wire of a clip with means thereon for engaging with the wire, automatic means for disengaging the clip from the wire at the destination, a carrier attached to said clip, and a projection on said carrier with a diagonal slot in the top thereof communicating with an undercut aperture whereby the carrier can be hung upon the wire by causing the wire to pass through the diagonal slot, while the carrier is at an angle to said wire, then turning the carrier along the wire, and engaging the clip at its forward end therewith.

VICTOR WALTER SINTON.

copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

